England have clinched victory when needed: Strauss

Chennai: After registering a scintillating win over West Indies, England captain Andrew Strauss on Thursday said that they have pulled off results when needed which has kept their hopes for a quarterfinal berth alive.

England had lost to rank outsiders Ireland and Bangladesh but had beaten title contenders South Africa before defeating West Indies in a tight match on Thursday, besides having tied with India.

"We have been inconsistent, no doubt about it. We should have done better. We should not have lost to Ireland and Bangladesh. But we also pulled out results when we`ve needed them. It shows the spirit in the side," he said after his side pulled of a 18-run win over West Indies in their last Group B league match to keep their hopes of a quarterfinal berth alive.

"It`s been pretty hard work all the way through the group stages. We are still waiting on other results, but hopefully we`ve done enough to go through (to the quarterfinals)," he said.

Talking about Thursday`s match, Strauss said his side were around 20 runs short after electing to bat. England made 243 all out in 48.4 overs after electing to bat.

"We should have got 260-270 but we fought brilliantly with the ball. Great credit to James Tredwell and Luke Wright who have been waiting in the wings. We have to be more clinical, but for the time being tonight we`ll enjoy this victory."

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said his side should have done better and won the match but felt they can take some positives from today's loss.

"One of the guys who made a start needed to take us through. We have a few positives to take, young Devendra Bishoo bowled well, but at the end of the day we lost. I was happy chasing 244 after the start they had," he said.

"We would have been happier had we won today. We have a big game coming up -- against India. So we hope to take the positives from today`s match to the tie against India," he added.